Chief Guests – Inaugural Function and Valedictory Function
Director of Indian Institute of Management, Indore (IIM)Strategic Consultant to Government of India
Dr. Himanshu Rai
Professor Himanshu Rai is the Director of IIM Indore. Under his leadership IIM Indore got the triple crown accreditation of AMBA, AACSB and EQUIS making it one of the 100 institutions in the world to have the honor. Prior to this he has been the Dean of SDA Bocconi India campus, Professor at SDA Bocconi, Milan, and has taught at IIM Lucknow and XLRI. His profile includes a stint of over 8 years at Tata Steel, India, where he played a pivotal role in developing Quality Systems and the Communication Policy for the Company. He is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and KREC Surathkal. His book titled “Negotiation” published by McGraw Hill Education is a bestseller on Amazon. His TEDx talk on “Ethical Leadership: Lessons from the Vedas won him several accolades the world over.
Himanshu also practices and teaches Yoga, and considers the Himalayas his spiritual abode. Passionate about mountaineering and trekking, he has scaled Rudragaira, Kala Patthar, Nagakarsang, Khatling and Chandrashila peaks.
An avid quizzer, Himanshu has conducted over a hundred quiz shows across the country and has had a delightful stint in dramatics with many plays to his credit, both as an actor and a director. He also juggles a keen interest in reading and collecting books with a strong passion for music.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aditya Birla Insulators & Aditya Birla Power CompositesDirector of Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturing Association (IEEMA)
Mr. Rohit Pathak
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- 2019 Onwards – Appointed first CEO of Aditya Birla Power Composites Limited, a JV of Grasim Industries Limited with Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen of Germany for Composite Hollow Core Insulators. This is in addition to the role of CEO of Aditya Birla Insulators. Am also on the Board of ABPCL.
- 2016 Onwards – President & CEO of Aditya Birla Insulators (largest Insulator player in India and 3rd largest porcelain player globally), where he is leading the transformation of ABI into an International business and diversification into Composites. ABI recently completed 50 years in the Insulator industry, and offers the complete range of insulators across voltages, applications and materials. Rohit is on the Executive Council of IEEMA (the industry association of the electrical equipment industry in India) and was elected as the Vice President of IEEMA for the year 2019-20.
- 2011-2016 – Principal EA to Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, helping manage all the Businesses of the $40+ billion Aditya Birla Group. Advised Mr Birla on key priorities (such as M&A, organic growth, special initiatives) and strategic planning & monitoring across the Group Businesses, and help the businesses on strategic issues and to leverage the Group Functions as needed.
- 2001-2011 – Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, where he developed and sustained two of the five largest clients for McKinsey in India, working on diverse issues such as new market entry, business turnaround, inorganic growth, large scale performance transformations, and business plan development and delivery. Also, led the Procurement practice and Co-led the Automotive & Assembly practice in India
- 1997-1999 – Design Engineer at Analog Devices Inc, and worked on the development and design of the cutting-edge range of microprocessors at its Bangalore and Austin (USA) Design Centres.
Panel 1: Disruptive Innovation and Transformation
Chair in International Business at University of Leeds, UK Author of “International Business Strategy”
Prof. Elizabeth L Rose
Prof. Elizabeth Rose holds a chair in International Business at the University of Leeds. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Business Policy and Strategy at the Indian Institute of Management Udaipur (India). A dual citizen of New Zealand and the United States, her previous academic appointments have been in New Zealand, Finland, and the US. Prof. Beth has the honor of being an elected Fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB) and the 2019 WAIB (Women of the AIB) Woman of the Year. She graduated as a civil engineer from Princeton University, completing an MSE in Civil Engineering and an AM in Statistics from the University of Michigan and earning her Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Starting as a Product Design Engineer at Ford Motor Company, Prof. Beth transitioned to begin her career in academia. With rich expertise in internationalisation, international entrepreneurship, foreign direct investment, competitive interactions, and quantitative research methods, Prof. Beth’s core research pertains to various aspects of how firms internationalize and compete across borders. Prof. Beth authored the book “International Business Strategy: Perspectives on Implementation in Emerging Markets” and has published 50 journal articles and numerous conference papers across multiple fields. Prof. Beth’s recent research paper was published in the Journal of Small Business Management about Process Innovation in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Narayana Health 50 Most Influential Marketing Leaders in India, 2017
Mr. Sumanta Ray
Mr. Sumanta Ray is the group Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Narayana Health. He is part of the core leadership team at Narayana Health and is directly responsible for Sales, Marketing, Shared Services, Pricing and International Markets. An alumnus of Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and Goa Institute of Management (GIM). Mr. Ray is also a visiting faculty at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore and Goa Institute of Management.
Mr. Sumanta started his career as an Account Manager at Bates India Ltd. Subsequently Mr. Sumanta occupied key roles across multiple organizations which include Group Account Manager at FCB Ulka Advertising Pvt Ltd, Regional Manager of marketing at Inox Leisure Ltd, Head of Marketing Communications at Bharti Airtel Ltd, Marketing Head at Reliance Life Insurance and Senior Vice president and Group Marketing Head of Apollo hospitals. Mr. Sumanta left no stoned unturned while working towards his goal and successfully executed go-to-market strategies in Africa, Middle East & South Asia.
Mr. Sumanta was rated among the top 50 most influential marketing leaders in India in 2017 and top 50 most talented CMOs in Indian in 2014. Mr. Sumanta, for the love of interacting with ignited young minds, has been teaching a various B-schools pan-India which include IIM Bangalore and GIM, Goa.
Consulting Senior Practice Director, Oracle Financial Services25+years of expertise in Financial Services and Information Technology
Mr. Srinivas Dhagam
‘Mr. Srinivas Dhagam is a Techno-Functionally sophisticated and Business-savvy Management professional with rich experience in Consulting & Managing of end-to-end Banking solutions across the globe. Mr. Dhagam focuses on achieving bottom-line results for clients by formulating and implementing Technology and Business solutions to satisfy diverse requirements in BFSI sector. Mr. Srinivas Dhagam earned his ‘Master in Business Administration’ from Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy. He has expertise in diverse roles in areas of Consulting, Banking Transformation Programs, Development Projects, Implementation Management, Integration, Reporting Requirements, Testing, Project Management, Pre-Sales support and Product Design.
Mr. Dhagam started his career as Assistant Manager in Financial Services & Treasury operations for the NBFC and later Treasury operations of Nagarjuna Group. He then joined Fitch Ratings, India as Senior Analyst responsible for Credit Rating, ongoing review of Ratings, creating Industry specific Reports, Sales and running periodic Assessments of clients. Mr. Dhagam has been part of Oracle Financial Services Software for 19+ years now and is leading strategic initiatives towards driving value and making the Delivery organization more agile. He is currently heading ‘Resources, Operations and Revenue Management’ for Consulting Europe region.
Panel 2: Data and Decisions
Senior Vice President & Global Head at Datamatics Global Services LimitedAccomplished Technocrat, Author and Management Consultant with an Entrepreneurial Mindset
Dr. Bikramajit Chaudhuri
Dr. Bikramjit Chaudhuri is the Senior Vice President and Global Head – Advanced Analytics and Data Sciences at Datamatics Global Services Limited. He did his master’s in Statistics from Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and his Doctorate on Mathematical Statistics and Probability from Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT), Bombay.
Dr. Bikramjit started his career as a Senior Research Executive at Nielsen and went on to become Senior Vice President at Nielsen. Post the long stint at Nielsen, Dr. Bikramjit held key positions in reputed multinational organizations like KPMG, Sevendots, and ZS Associates working in India and Europe. At present, Dr. Bikramjit is heading the Advanced analytics and Data sciences division in Datamatics Global Services working closing with the executive team and extensively with clients across multiple industry verticals like BFSI, Healthcare, Retail and Telecommunications.
Being an in-depth researcher, data and cognitive scientist, Dr. Bikramjit has several research papers and articles published in various international indexed journals in the areas of statistical modelling, fraud diagnosis, market measurement, consumer segmentation, big data analytics and currency demand forecasting. The most recent publications include “COVID 19: Targeted social distancing and complete lockdown is the need of the hour” under his research pursuit. Dr. Bikramjit had received recognitions from ESOMAR, NASSCOM and various media houses in the country for his work and contribution in the field of research.
Head of Data – GoFood at Gojek Publisher of 20 global patent grants in Data Sciences with 10 global patent grants
Ms. Mathangi Sri
Ms. Mathangi Sri is the Head of Data – GoFood at Gojek which featured as the only Southeast Asian start-up to be part of Fortune’s list of ‘Companies That Changed The World’. Ms. Mathangi Sri is an Electrical & Electronics Engineer from Madurai Kamaraj University and graduated with MBA from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. Ms. Mathangi practices as guest faculty of Analytics at IIM Kashipur, NIT Trichy, Analytics Vidhya, Digital Vidhya, and Praxis School of Business.
Mathangi is a renowned data science leader in India. She has 11 Patent grants and 20+ patents published in intuitive customer experience, indoor positioning, and user profiles. She has 16+ years of proven track record in building world-class data sciences solutions and products. She is adept in machine learning, text mining NLP technologies & tools. She has built data sciences teams across large organizations like Citibank, HSBC, GE and tech startups like 247.ai, PhonePe, Gojek.
Ms. Mathangi advises start-ups, enterprises and venture capitalists on Data Science strategy and roadmap. As an active contributor on machine learning to many premier institutes in India Ms. Mathangi is recognized as one of “The Phenomenal SHE” by Indian National Bar Association in 2019.
Regional director, India at Study GroupEx-COO, Indian Public Sector at Microsoft India
Mr. Munish Gupta
Panel 3: Managing Human Capital
Vice President & Country Manager at Western DigitalAdvisory Board Member of ABS India Pvt Ltd & Mindler
Ms. Supria Dhanda
Supria Dhanda is Vice President and Country Manager of Western Digital India. She leads India’s strategic charter and its expansion, key customer relationships, government relations, sustained growth of Research and Development capability, and serves as a spokesperson for the corporate brand in India. Supria’s fusion of business acumen, strategy and organizational development has driven high performance culture and strong growth for India region. She has more than 22 years of experience and has held several leadership roles in business and People functions, has anchored Mergers & Acquisitions. and has been an Entrepreneur as well. She serves on the Board of Western Digital India and an Independent member of Board and an Advisory Board member on other companies.
Prior to her roles at Western Digital, Supria has served with reputed technology companies including General Electric, Alcatel-Lucent and SanDisk. Supria is passionate about Technology and People. She strongly believes in institutionalizing an inclusive culture at workplace and one that values respect and equality for all alike. Supria believes passionately in giving back to the community for building a sustainable future.
She is a proud recipient of the recognition—Top 100 Best Companies to work for Women in India—Working Mother and Avatar Study 2016 and 2019, twice when Western Digital India participated in the Study. Supria has also been recently awarded as CEO of the Year for ‘Diversity & Inclusion’ at the Global DEI Summit 2020 hosted by Times of India and Ask Insights.
Leading the EY GigNow Recruitment team14+ of rich experience in Talent Recruitment and Development
Mr. Tanvir Singh
Tanvir Singh is the recruitment head for the team that hires GIG talent at EY Global Delivery Services. Mr. Singh has been a part of EY GDS for the past six years and has worked in a variety of leadership positions, Mr. Singh started off as the Leader for Campus Recruitments and University Relations and led that department for over five years.
Mr. Singh is a chemistry graduate from University of Delhi, and has done MBA from Goa Institute of Management, batch of 2006. Mr. Singh started his career with Cranes Software International Limited, where he was the key accounts manager for scientific products. Mr. Singh developed key accounts and managed total account-relationship for various institutions like IITs, IIMs, State/Private Universities and CSIR, ICMR, and AIIMS Labs.
After a stint of almost two years with Cranes Software, Mr. Singh joined Infosys Limited where he was responsible for campus and lateral recruitments, employer branding and recruitment research and planning. Mr. Singh has a rich experience in university relations, experienced hiring and has had a major role in enhancing the process to find the best candidate for his organizations.
Head, Talent & Performance Management at Maxis, Malaysia Asia's Women Leaders award by the World Women Leadership Congress, 2019
Ms. Ramya Balakrishnan
Ms. Ramya Balakrishnan currency leads the talent and performance management team for Maxis, a Malaysian Telco market leader. She is an engineer turned HR professional, who started as a Management Trainee in Dell India, supporting the manufacturing units as the Supply Chain Business Partner. Ms. Ramya subsequently joined GE as the ASEAN Organisation & Talent Development Manager handling Employer branding, University Relations & Leadership Programs in the region. Ms. Ramya then moved to Unilever as the Leadership Development Manager and managed 5 ASEAN markets and later becoming Senior HR Business Partner for sales & marketing functions in Malaysia and Singapore.
Ms. Ramya has over 10 years of rich industry experience in leading corporates like Dell, General Electric (GE) and Unilever. Ms. Ramya has extensive experience on path-breaking practices like Open Talent Economy, Future of Work models, ‘evolving workplace practices’ and ‘digital HR enablement’, besides domains like Business aligned HR strategy, Leadership & Talent development.
As someone who believes in life-long learning, Ms. Ramya has recently completed a certification in HR Analytics from Cornell University. Ms. Ramya was recognized as 100 most inspirational LinkedIn icons to follow in Malaysia. Ms. Ramya was also awarded the Asia’s Women Leaders award by the World Women Leadership Congress and Awards, 2019.
Panel 4: Entrepreneurship and Start-ups
Professor - Center for Social Entrepreneurship of the School of Management and Labour Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai Member - Governing Board of National Innovation Foundation of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
Prof. Satyajit Majumdar
Prof. Satyajit Majumdar has graduated in Electrical and Industrial Engineering, and later obtained post-graduate degree in Management, Applied M. Phil. and PhD. He is also a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India). As Professor at the Center for Social Entrepreneurship of the School of Management and Labour Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai he teaches entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, strategic management, growth and technology strategy, corporate social responsibility and service operations management. With more than 39 years of experience he provides consulting and corporate training in the areas related to Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, Growth Strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility and Strategic Human Resource Management. He also mentors entrepreneurs and start-up organizations. He holds several advisory positions; the prominent ones are – Member of Governing Board of National Innovation Foundation of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Member of Committees – a) on Biotechnology Based Programme for Societal Development and b) for establishment of Rural Bioresource Complexes in Aspirational Districts of Department of Biotechnology, and Member of Programme Advisory and Monitoring Committee of Department of Science and Technology of Government of India, and Member of Academic Council, KLE Technological University, Hubli (India). He was the Lead of the Core Team constituted by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India for conferring National Entrepreneurship Award 2017. As member of boards of studies, academic councils, advisory and steering boards of universities, technology incubators and other organizations he regularly participates in policy discussions related to academics and practice. Professor Majumdar has been actively engaged in expert groups at national and international levels to provide strategic advices and guidance for academic program design and implementation including in the areas of teaching and research, skill development, entrepreneurship development, livelihood creation and micro and small business management. He has travelled to USA, UK, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, France, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Russia to deliver expert lectures and as members of advisory bodies. In 2009, he was conferred Galpin International Research Fellowship by the Quinnipiac University, USA. He is also a ‘distinguished alumnus’ of his alma mater – SGS Institute of Technology and Science, Indore, Madhya Pradesh (India). Professor Majumdar has many research papers and award winning case studies to his credit, published in national and international journals and edited volumes. His research interest area is ‘growth strategy in entrepreneur managed small and medium business organization’ and strategic CSR.
Co – Founder of Again Drinks & Fabmart.com (Indiaplaza)Author of best seller “Failing to succeed – the story of first E- Commerce Company”
Mr. Vaitheeswaran K
Mr. Vaitheeswaran K, widely referred to as “Father of e- commerce in India”, is the founder of IndiaPlaza and is the Co-Founder of Again Drinks, a beverage brand. Mr. Vaitheeswaran is a serial entrepreneur founding India’s first e-commerce company Fabmart.com in 1999 (later re-branded as Indiaplaza) and Fabmall, India’s first integrated retail company, which was later acquired by the Aditya Birla group and rebranded as the More chain of stores. The More chain of supermarkets has been acquired by Amazon in 2018. Mr. Vaitheeswaran authored one of the bestselling books of all time, “Failing to Succeed – The story of first E-commerce Company”.
Before the entrepreneurial venture, Mr. Vaitheeswaran started his career at Murugappa group as a Senior Product Executive and held several top-level managerial positions in companies like Wipro, Tata Group, Diageo and Deloitte. At present, he is serving as a member of the Industry Advisory Board of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore, and Review committee member of Government e-marketplace (GeM), created by the Government of India for easy and efficient public procurement of goods. He is a member of several organizations like TiE Bangalore Chapter as a key contributor in Retail SIG, Confederation of Indian Industry and National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN). Mentoring several startups and actively publishes opinion pieces on entrepreneurship. Mr. Vaitheeswaran was awarded as “Best e-commerce professionals in India” by Asia Retail Congress.
Founder and Director at SeaportAI Top 20 AI startup, 2019 by CIO Review Magazine
Mr. Govind Kumar
Govind Kumar comes with over two decades of professional experience in multinational and Indian companies in the areas of strategy, artificial intelligence, risk management and quality. He currently runs an award-winning analytics and artificial intelligence venture – SeaportAI. He has driven large scale transformations that delivered more than $ 100M in financial impact and incubated centres of excellence for service analytics & fraud prevention at HP Asia Pacific.
He is passionate about product development and played a lead role in developing PC products for emerging markets. As regards education, he has done his B. Tech from Anna University and a full time MBA from Bharathidasan Institute of Management Trichy. He strives for a balance between left and right brain thinking approaches in all areas and this is reflected in his master level certifications in Six Sigma and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).
He is a prolific writer and has authored a bestselling book on Changing Preferences of Indian Customers. He has won numerous national and international awards for excellence in artificial intelligence, customer experience, leadership, and quality.